Cannabis sales still blocked in Washington D.C.

While Washington D.C. voted overwhelmingly to legalize cannabis in 2014, Congress still refuses to let the nation's capital create a regulated market. As it stands, residents can possess, grow and give away various quantities of cannabis, but not sell or buy it, which has left room for a «gray market» where vendors sell other products and offer cannabis at every sale.

Democratic mayor Muriel Bowser and the Washington D.C. City Council have tried to regulate the industry, but there's been no success. were blocked each time by congressional inaction. Local lawmakers say they're looking for an alternative to make the gray market legal.

According to a report from Politico, Congress has just passed an amendment in its «spending package» to continue prohibiting the development of a cannabis market. The surprise addition to the text was only discovered when the bill was released on Wednesday and had been absent from previous budget proposals. It was finally included in the budget by President Joe Biden.

In a statement, the CEO of’U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC), Steven Hawkins, said the organization was «deeply disappointed by Congress» failure to act on cannabis reform in this year's appropriations bill".

«Congress was on the verge of making real progress, including removing the barriers put in place by Representative Andy Harris that prevent the District of Columbia from implementing regulated cannabis sales after a successful legalization referendum. This has created a harmful underground market that operates without any standards or safeguards and is at odds with the will of local voters,» explained Steven Hawkins in a press release

Toi Hutchinson, President and General Manager of the Marijuana Policy Project, said, «We are very disappointed that Congress continues to prevent D.C. residents from regulating cannabis despite their urgent and repeated calls for reform. Instead, Congress is forcing the District to maintain a gray market in which cannabis can be legally possessed and consumed by adults, but cannot be legally sold, regulated or tested. This puts consumers at risk, and entrepreneurs who live in this majority-minority community are denied the opportunity to open businesses that are available in every other jurisdiction where cannabis is legal.»

The spending package could also have given adult markets the same legal protection. than that governing medical cannabis programs in states that have approved the reforms. They were nevertheless deleted from the Senate version of the bill.